43 comments on Maldonado takes penalty point for Ericsson collision

Although he made another stupid mistake I don’t think this is needed. He got his 5 sec stop/go. It’s getting a bit more like overkill to me. (Although in MAL his case, there is no such thing as overkill)

@xtwl It is for 2 different incident. Wouldn’t be right to be allowed free crash after the first one …
Not much coverage, so difficult to have a clear opinion on this penalty though. But 2 crashes in one race should be enough for that kin of penalty (if Mal is gulty in both cases of course)

According to the BBC-commentators, that type of 5seconds-stop/go penalty had to be taken during a regular pit-stop. In my opinion that’s hardly a penalty, so I can’t blame the FIA for given him an additional penalty point.

I am tired of seeing him doing these stupid moves. Every race it’s something with him.
And it’s been this way since the junior categories. I remember him almost killing a marshall in zolder in a fr3.5 race.
If it wasn’t for his money he would have been out of f1 by now.

I’m really starting to dislike penalty points, or more general FIA-imposed penalties. In days past, if a driver would ignore blue flags, the driver behind him would walk up to him after the race, shout some naughty words at him and that driver will make sure he never gets in his way again. And the same with Maldonado, the drivers should all stand together and say to him that they don’t respect the way he races.

In my opinion, the FIA should make sure things like Maldonado Spa 2011, Schumacher Monaco 2006 or jump starts don’t happen, but for the rest they should leave it to the drivers to sort it out. They are the ones racing, and if they don’t like how the others race they should make sure they don’t race like that anymore.

The rules are so unbelievably tight that every tiny mistake (sometimes not even the driver’s fault) is rewarded with a drive-through penalty, a grid drop and/or penalty points. In my opinion penalties are not the way to ‘correct’ the drivers’ behaviour.

I wish they would stop referring to the pit stop penalties as stop/go, as that is confusing with the original sort of stop/go penalty. It ought to be referred to as a time penalty, which is what it realistically is, even if the time is applied during the race itself.

I think the FIA’s penalty points are not the issue here. I think the issue is that Maldanado has proven himself to be a very irresponsible driver who never takes accountability for his mistakes and the dangers he puts others in.
How many collisions and outright crashes has he been involved in this year? In 5 races, I’m thinking it’s either 6 or 7, including practices. And nearly all of them were through lack of focus or judgement. It’s not fair to the other drivers to know that SOMEONE will likely have their race ruined by Maldanado each week.

Forget the points because they are not applied for his stupid mistakes in practice where he got lucky and only hurt himself and not others. Is he truly going to have to injure or kill another driver before the FIA acts? Grosjean was suspended, for a race, for much less. Maldanado’s “body of work” is far beyond any driver on the grid and the FIA need to take decisive action.

I should have also added: I think the money he brings from Venezuelan oil is part of the reason he has not been punished. I certainly hope not, but judging by the difference in the way they treat him, vs Grosjean in the past is not equitable and I can’t see another reason for it.

Pastor Maldonado is the classic example of why so many race fans hate pay drivers. When Pastor left Williams at the end of last season one had the feeling that both parties were as relieved as the other that they were parting ways. One could argue that Maldonado had achieved something at Williams, with his sole grands prix victory in 2012, and the teams only win since 2004.
Moving to Lotus seemed the right move for Maldonado on paper atleast. They were fast in 2013, something you could not say about the Williams. Its just that Pastor, for me, gives off the impression that he believes he is possibly better than he actually is at driving an F1 car.
This season has seen so many mistakes from Pastor that it is becoming embarrassing. His excuses are, bizarre to say the least. To claim that ‘the wall is too close’ following his Barcelona shunt is stating the obvious, but it was in all sense a pathetic attempt at shifting the blame away from himself. With Maldonado, it is always someone else’s mistake, never him.
It is obvious that Lotus have not got the car they, nor Pastor, had hoped for in 2014. It is quite possible that he is overdriving, trying to make the car perform things it is simply not capable of, but these enforced
errors are all his. The bottom line, is that he is the one behind the wheel.